Panera Bread to open in Fayette Tuesday
People might think that a few days before opening, a new bread store’s atmosphere would be heavy with odors of yeasts, baking and a host of other aromas. Not so in the case of Panera Bread, which will open its new store Tuesday in the Home Depot Plaza at 105 Matthew Drive in Uniontown.
Why no rich wheaty perfume?
“We bake our breads fresh every day,’ said Leah Broudy, public relations/marketing representative for Covelli Enterprises, a franchise of Panera Inc.
“Our bakers come in at 10 p.m. and work until 6 in the morning,’ she said, adding that the store probably will overwhelm customers’ olfactory senses when it opens on Tuesday.
Employing about 60 people, the new store will offer a variety of breads as well as other baked goods, hot and cold espresso beverages, specialty coffees, homemade soups, salads, signature sandwiches and other foods.
One of Panera Bread’s trademarks is serving its soups in its award-winning sourdough bread bowls.
Panera Bread is also using its Uniontown opening to introduce diners to one of the “oldest bread traditions, artisan bread,’ Broudy said.
Artisan bread, according to a Panera Bread press release, is the result of “old-world baking traditions applied to simple, natural ingredients.’ Loaves of artisan bread will begin with flour, water, natural yeast and salt.
“The baker’s care and craftsmanship ensures these basics take on the textures and tastes of artisan bread,’ the company said.
To mark its grand opening, Broudy said, the local store will host Fox Sports Radio’s daily morning show “The Locker Room,” from 7 to 10 a.m. Tuesday, with former Steelers Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley, who will sign autographs. The first 300 customers also will receive a free Panera Bread travel mug.
Other prizes, including Steeler memorabilia and Panera Bread, will also be given away. At approximately 10:15 a.m., an official ribbon cutting will be held.
The Fayette Chamber of Commerce is helping with the opening, Broudy said.
Local elected officials or their representatives are also scheduled to attend.
Broudy explained that Covelli Enterprises, as a franchisee, operates 80 Panera Bread stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Florida.
“We have a lot of other openings planned,’ Broudy said.
Covelli will open Panera Bread stores in Greensburg, Altoona and Murrysville and in Charleston and Parkersburg, W.Va. Covelli North, she added, has about 25 stores in the Pittsburgh region.
“We plan to move more into the West Virginia market,’ she said.
“We came to Uniontown because of all the development here. There is so much going on,’ Broudy said.
“We also got wonderful response when we began hiring. Uniontown has been great. We had a great application flow,’ she said.
Suzanne Veltri, who heads employee training, explained that new workers “were almost immediately sent to the nearest stores for training,’ which included work on cash registers and other aspects of customer service.
“We feel employees who get to work in more than one position are happy employees,’ Veltri said.
Employees were trained at the Panera Breads in Washington and Morgantown, W.Va. Hiring began about two months ago.
Workers, Veltri added, receive “above minimum wage to start. Associates who have been here for a year can join the 401k investing program.’
Panera Bread also participates in charitable events. Broudy commented that the stores recently collected more than $12,000 for cancer research and patient care in the UPMC system.
Through its “Operation Dough-Nation,’ Panera Bread each day donates leftover baked goods to local charities and food pantries. The stores also offer a coupon program called “Dough for Funds,’ which helps charitable groups generate cash to support their projects. Every bakery-caf? participates in community events through donations of fresh baked goods and gift certificates.
For more information about Panera Bread, contact Covelli Enterprises at 330-856-3176 or visit the Web sites panerabread.com and also paneracovelli.com.
The Uniontown store can be reached at 724-439-8670 or fax at 724-439-8676.
The new store will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday.